DC Elseworlds: Action Comics
by thesentence
Summary: In 1938, Kal-El and Kara Zor-El crashed on Earth. Ten years later, Superboy shows up in Gotham. See the early days of Superman in the Elseworlds: Justice League! Chapter 2 now up!
1. Chapter 1

DC Elseworlds: Action Comics

**Episode 1: Boy of Steel**

His name is Clay Ramsay. He is a mine worker from Metropolis who is staying in Gotham City on vacation. Clay is a happily married man, or at least he thinks he is. Clay had saved up some money to afford the hotel suite in Gotham. As for the flight, he had his own custom-built two-man plane, allowing himself and his wife to fly to Gotham without paying for plane tickets.

The year is 1948. In this era, women are slowly gaining rights. World War 2 has ended and the economy has never been better. However, things aren't going well with Mrs. Ramsay. Clay is wearing a white sleeveless t-shirt with black slacks and black suit shoes. His wife is wearing a blue dress with black slippers. Clay is standing over her as she lies down on the floor, coughing from being punched in the stomach by him.

"I told you to bring me more whiskey! Why can't you just do like I asked?" Samantha Ramsay speaks up, the wind knocked out of her with a black eye and blood coming from her mouth. "Clay, I'm sorry, but you had too much to drink already!" Clay picks her up and holds her by the neck after slamming her onto the bed. "I'll stop drinking when I feel like it! All I asked of you was to do one simple thing, Samantha!"

"Clay, you're choking me!"

By surprise, someone smashes through the door of the hotel. Clay and Samantha Ramsay are completely caught off guard by the presence of the strange young man. Standing at 6'4, he has very nice short black hair, otherworldly blue eyes and wears a blue t-shirt with a red S logo surrounded by yellow. He wears blue jeans and dark brown work boots. The young man appears to be in his late teens, but Clay notices that the young man is staring right at him.

"Who the hell are you," asked Clay. The young man responds aggressively. "Pissed off, how about you? I overheard a police radio, saying that a guy was beating on his wife, and unless that black eye is make-up, I think that's you." Clay releases Samantha and walks over to the young man. "Get lost, brat! This is none of your..." Clay is cut off by the young man, grabbing his throat.

"You must think you're tough, beating on a helpless woman, don't you, Mr. Ramsay?"

"How... how did you know my name?"

"I've listened to rumors about you around town about you beating your wife." The young man begins to raise his voice in anger. "You like to attack defenseless women, Clay?!" The young man throws him against the wall with unbelievable strength, denting the wall. "YOU'RE NOT FIGHTING A WOMAN NOW!" Clay staggers to his feet, shocked by the young man's elephant-like strength, but now he has insulted him. Clay takes out a knife and lunges at the young man, but it shatters on impact. Clay looks down at the now broken knife in fear. "This can't be." Clay drops the hilt, and in one last desperate attempt, he puts his hands on the young man's throat, but can't seem to strangle him. The young man grabs him by the shirt and throws him out the window, into the docks below. Clay splashes into the water, but luckily he can swim.

The young man approaches the blonde Samantha and tries to comfort her. "Are you alright, Mrs. Ramsay?" Samantha buries her face into the young man's shoulder, crying. "I think he really was going to kill me this time." The young man hugs her. "The police are on their way. It's going to be fine."

The next day, the newspapers speak of a mysterious "Super Boy" who stopped a wife beater by tossing him into the Gotham River. The police are now trying to find him to bring him in for questioning. Kal sits inside of his apartment, still in uniform (so to speak) from yesterday. He's only been in Gotham for a few months and is already making the papers. Maybe now the police can try harder to keep the city safe. Carmine Falcone has bought off half of the police force and some of the judges, causing the city to become a cesspool of corruption, making it the perfect stomping ground for Kal.

As for living arrangements, Kal is able to provide for himself by using the Sunstone; this way, he can keep fighting crime while being able to pay his rent. The Sunstone will morph into any item he needs, and he has some of it in his t-shirt. With this, he can make diamonds to cash in to pay for his apartment way in advance. With his rent paid for a few years, he doesn't have to worry about being homeless.

During his night patrols, Kal has run into a few of Falcone's men. They have sold weapons on the black market, using stolen arsenal. After knocking them out and smashing their weapons, he called the cops to inform them. Of course, Carmine is now furious that the weapons deal was shattered and wants to kill Superboy.

It is Friday morning and Kal has just woken up. He rubs his eyes as he looks at the TV on the side of his bed. Though Earth's gravity is weaker than Krypton's, he can feel the weight of his own body. Kal remembers when he was just five years old back on Krypton. His cousin Kara would visit his house to read to him and play with him. Kara was eight years older than him, but sometimes she acted more childish than him. Three years later, their paradise world became a nightmare when the Doomsday creature appeared. A monster in both appearance and personality, Doomsday rampaged across their world. Their weapons were useless against him, so the Kryptonian military banished Doomsday into the Phantom Zone.

It was later revealed that Doomsday was summoned by Zod because he felt that Krypton had become lazy. With thousands of deaths mounted against him from Doomsday's rampage, Zod and his lieutenant, Faora, were sent into the Phantom Zone. Before his imprisonment, Zod gave a final warning: Brainiac is coming.

One month later, Zod's warning came true. Was Zod trying to toughen them up for Brainiac's invasion? It was too late to think about that, because Brainiac's forces had overwhelmed Krypton. Brainiac's ship had placed a dome over Kandor, Krypton's capital city. Kandor then vanished, joining Brainiac's collection on his ship. Immediately afterwards, Brainiac launches a solar detonator into Krypton's sun, causing it to flare up. Out of options, Jor and Zor rounded up Kal and Kara. The two cousins are placed in separate rockets right next to each other.

"Father," shouted Kara as she lays in her rocket nude. Zor answers his daughter in a saddened voice. "I had you to take off your clothes to maximize your exposure to Earth's yellow sun. Earth's gravity is ten times weaker than Krypton's, so you and Kal will have strength, speed and durability beyond that of a normal human." Jor now speaks to his son. "The Sunstone that my brother and I injected you both with will allow you both to gain powers beyond that of gravity based strength. When the time comes, you will use the Sunstone's power to remove any limits you have."

"Father, come with us," shouts Kal from inside of his rocket. Jor bows his head. "I am sorry, my son, but there is no time. These are the only two rockets available." The planet begins to erupt and the two rockets are launched into space. As they make their way into orbit, the planet explodes behind them. Blinded by the light, a mechanism activates and puts the two cousins to sleep.

Kal shakes his head, getting that terrible memory out of his mind. Wearing nothing but white boxers, he then generates Sunstone around his torso before forming a red House of El t-shirt. He walks over to the TV and switches it on, seeing a news report.

_This just in. The Gotham Merchants Bank has just been robbed. Police are now in pursuit of the culprits on highway 90._

Kal forms blue jeans and work boots. Taking off in a blur, he goes after the bank robbers.

**Next Chapter: Carmine Falcone puts a bounty on Superboy's head. With half of the police force in his pocket, the Gotham PD will stop at nothing to claim the prize.**


	2. Chapter 2

It is after dark at the Wayne Hotel as Carmine Falcone stands behind a podium inside the reception room. There is a red carpet on the giant floor with red drapes at the far end of the room. Carmine stands at the podium in an expensive black suit with a black bow tie. He has a rose in his front left chest pocket on his jacket. His hair is brown and neatly combed down on both sides. His face is broad, and his wrinkles show as he appears to be in his early fifties. He holds up a skinny wine glass as he speaks to the audience.

"Friends and family, welcome to the charity ball here at the Wayne Hotel. I gathered you all here tonight to celebrate as we give back to the community. As a Gotham citizen, I know full well that times are tough for the less fortunate. I was once poor myself, but I worked my way up so that my family could live better."

Kal stands behind the crowd at the punch table. He replaced his t-shirt and jeans with a dark blue suit and black shoes. He raises his cup as he takes a sip while keeping his eyes on Carmine. "Some reception, huh," asked a young man approaching Kal. Kal sees that the young man is around the same age as him, eighteen. He is also close to Kal's height and has blue eyes like him. The young man has neat black hair and appears to be in peak physical form. He wears an expensive black suit with a black tie. He extends his hand for a greeting.

"Bruce Wayne, I own this hotel. And you are?" Kal shakes Bruce's hand. "Kal." Bruce keeps his smile, hiding his confusion. "Well Kal, what do you think about this charity ball? We're going to change a lot of lives." Kal puts down his punch cup. "I hope so. This city has become a nest for crime and corruption. No matter how many criminals Superboy puts behind bars, there are always more. I wonder if that nursery rhyme has anything to do with it."

"Do you mean the Court of Owls," asked Bruce.

"Beware the Court of Owls, that watches all the time, ruling Gotham from a shadow perch, behind granite and lime. They watch you at your hearth, they watch you in your bed, speak not a whispered word of them, or they'll send the Talon for your head."

"So how long have you been in Gotham, Kal? You seem to have memorized the nursery rhyme pretty well." Kal looks calm. "A few months." Bruce now loses his smile. "A few months, huh?" Kal turns his attention back to Carmine. He knows that Carmine doesn't care about the less fortunate or any of Gotham's citizens, only lining his pockets.

* * *

The next day, Carmine stands at the window of his mansion as his son, Alberto, approaches him. Carmine turns his head a little to speak to his son, who stands behind him. "So, did you put the word out, Alberto?" "Yeah, dad. Ten million dollars to the guy that kills Superboy."

"Did you tell the Gotham PD as well?"

"I told you, I took care of it. I know that half the police force are on your side."

"As they should be. Without my money, their pitiful wages can't pay their bills. Once Superboy is out-of-the-way, we can start selling weapons again."

Meanwhile, at Kal's apartment, Kal is sitting on his brown comfy chair as Kara sits across from him on the couch. Her blonde hair is cut short and her body has well toned muscle. She seems to wear nothing except short overalls. Kal looks disappointed.

"Why are you half-naked in those overalls," asked Kal. Kara makes a mischievous smile. "Because I want to absorb more sunlight, aaaaaannnd get some cute guys to notice me."

"Well, you'll be noticed alright, but not in a good way. So did you come all the way here from the Kent Farm, Kara?" Kara looks more innocent now. "Well, yeah; Ethan and Mary Kent needed some help with the chickens. Their little boy, Jonathan, seems to have some potential though. He's going to be a great farmer."

"Amazing how they were able to look after us and their son all these years." Kara makes a soft laugh. "These people of Earth really are something, aren't they, Kal?" Kal looks left, hearing something from far off. Kara looks concerned.

"Kal, what is it?" Kal hears a cry for help, miles from his apartment. The voice seems to be coming from the Gotham subway. Kal then stands up. "Someone needs help in the Gotham subway system. Wait for me, Kara." Wearing a black t-shirt with his red S logo, Kal takes off in a blur.

Superboy makes it to the subway in two minutes, seeing a figure in a black uniform with his back facing him. "Hello, did you need help with something?" Superboy approached the person and as he reaches his hand to touch the person's shoulder, the person is a police officer. He spins around and cuffs Superboy's wrist. "Figured you might show up with a fake distress call." Stepping out of the shadows are a group of 20 officers of the Gotham police department. "What's this about, officer," asked Superboy.

"You have upset the peace here in town, taking the law into your own hands. We're taking you in." Superboy smirks. "You don't care about the people of this town. Carmine Falcone sent you here, didn't he?" The cop that cuffed him makes a cocky smile. "Carmine is keeping our precinct afloat with his money. Most people assume that it's free to call the police for help, but it's not. We need funding to do our jobs, but the public doesn't care about that."

"Oh please, you're just a bunch of greedy cops after the bounty. That's the real reason you're here!" The cop cuffing Superboy takes out a gun and points it at Superboy's head. "You're right, we want the bounty. We'll just kill you here and tell the precinct that you resisted arrest." The cop fires a round, but Superboy had already grabbed the barrel. He snatches the gun from the cop and he shouts desperately at his fellow officers. "Don't just stand there, open fire!" Superboy snaps the cuff off as the Gotham PD unleashes a rain of gunfire on him, only for the bullets to bounce off of his skin. Superboy marches forward before speed blitzing through the crowd of crooked cops, knocking them all down. Superboy then leaves the subway station, going back home in a heartbeat.

* * *

Later that night, Bruce is inside of his cave, looking at a large screen with a set of dials. He turns the dials, seeing newspaper clippings of Superboy sightings. Alfred enters the cave with a silver tray, putting it down beside Bruce. "Checking the papers again, Master Bruce?"

"There's always something going on, Alfred. I'm trying to learn more about this Superboy."

"They say he can pick up a semi truck, but that's impossible."

"I don't know, Alfred. There have been eye-witness reports of a young man with amazing powers who helps people. Just a few hours ago, a mugging was stopped by Superboy."

"I heard similar stories coming from Kansas, sir. A farm girl with powers like Superboy has been helping people."

"Power Girl, Alfred. Yes, I heard them, too."

"So do you think these two sightings are related?"

"Seeing people taking action like that, regardless of what the law might think of them... that would give anyone hope, Alfred." Alfred is slightly startled by the screeching of the bats in the cave. Bruce leaves the news screen and pushes a button on a slim podium controller. Rising from out of the floor is a black body armor with a cowl in the shape of a bat.

"I wanted to fight crime here in Gotham, but I wasn't sure how to do it at first. Ra's Al Ghul gave me the training I needed, but I couldn't agree with his methods. The people of Gotham need something to believe in, but Superboy can't be everywhere." Moments later, Bruce has donned his batsuit as Alfred sees him jumping into the Batmobile. "I'll try to keep your meal warm for when you return, sir." Batman looks back at his butler. "I won't be long, Alfred."

The Batmobile fires up its turbo engine. In a few seconds, it zooms out of the Batcave, going into Gotham City.

**Next Chapter: With Superboy ruining his weapons business and the Gotham PD unable to take him down, Carmine is out of options. Suddenly, he is approached by the Ultra Humanite, who may know of a way to kill Superboy.**


End file.
